Growth Chains: The Greene TurtleGrowth Chains: The Greene Turtle

The Greene Turtle

Casual dining is not an easy segment to prosper in these days, but executives at The Greene Turtle are confident their brand has the strength and recognition to expand across the East Coast.

The Ocean City, Md.-based company has been strengthening its brand and refining its menu and marketing efforts over the past four years, said The Greene Turtle’s chief executive Bob Barry. This focus has allowed the sports bar concept to pursue a strategic plan that is helping to fuel its current expansion push. 

Earlier this year, the company debuted its first store outside of its mid-Atlantic hub, Barry said, signing a 10-store deal with a Long Island, N.Y.-based franchisee. Meanwhile, the company is exploring the Carolinas and Florida for future growth potential and is seeking long-term, experienced franchisees to lead the way.

The company currently operates or franchises 37 restaurants and expects to have 71 up and running by the middle of 2015.

“We spent a tremendous amount of time on the development of our food and our menu,” he said. “In the sports bar category, it’s very crowded. We felt we needed to step up the food that we were offering. We didn’t just want to do burgers and wings. We wanted to focus on the sandwich category and salads, too.”

The company’s top-selling item is its scratch-made crab cakes — an homage to The Greene Turtle’s Maryland heritage, Barry said. The menu also expands on that culinary theme by offering crab macaroni and cheese, crab pizza, and Maryland crab soup.

In the appetizer category, Barry said, wings are a top-seller, alongside Hog Hammers — ribs cut individually to be eaten like chicken wings. In the entrée category burgers and fish tacos are both popular, he said.

Limited-time offers such as the current Grilled Watermelon & Shrimp Salad also have helped differentiate the brand from bar-and-grill competitors. Rare Ahi tuna is offered as an appetizer, which is “not typical for a sports bar,” he said.

Barry said that early in the concept’s development there was more emphasis on the bar, and food and beverage sales were about even. But that has shifted, and today, about 65 percent of sales come from the sale of food.

“In the last four years, we have turned into a more family-friendly restaurant,” Barry said, adding that The Greene Turtle has put more nonalcoholic specialty beverages like flavored lemonades on the menu. “We have really focused to make sure food is a major part of our brand.”

Attempting to attract more families is a wise move for casual-dining brands looking to differentiate themselves from the rest of the bar-and-grill segment, said Bonnie Riggs, restaurant industry analyst for Port Washington, N.Y.-based research firm NPD Group. Families view dining out as entertainment — and even with a $17 average check, that’s cheaper than a weekend baseball game or theater event with the kids in tow, she said.

“I would also suggest the other groups that they might want to consider targeting are baby boomers and beyond,” she said. “Those are the folks who are keeping the industry from experiencing steeper declines.”

Battling fast casual

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Barry said it’s no secret that many in the casual-dining segment are struggling, but he added that The Greene Turtle hasn’t seen much adverse sales impact in recent years. 

“There’s no question that you have to work extremely hard in our segment,” he said. “Casual dining is just getting smashed by fast casual. However, I do think there’s a lot of room for growth for those of us who focus on what’s important.

The Greene Turtle focuses on innovative menu offerings, like the Buffalo Chicken Sandwich.

“It’s about making sure you’re executing and providing great service,” he added.

Riggs said that while fast casual is essentially the only restaurant segment showing any real growth these days, there is opportunity for restaurants like The Greene Turtle to steal away market share. For example, The Greene Turtle offers an express lunch between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. on weekdays, luring customers looking for a quick, inexpensive meal during the daypart.

“It’s really about being relevant in today’s marketplace,” Riggs said. “It sounds like this concept is making changes following that same line.”

The Greene Turtle also has other ways to grab market share, Barry said. The brand is widely recognized throughout Maryland and in other areas along the East Coast for being a major sponsor of lacrosse, an increasingly popular sport. The company also sells T-shirts and hats, with apparel comprising about 5 percent of total sales.

Still, one of the brand’s current goals is to get consumers to know The Greene Turtle not just for its sports investments, but also for its food and beverages.

Keeping things local

Barry said local initiatives such as the company’s mobile marketing and Mug Club are intended to help grow brand awareness and make customers everywhere feel like The Greene Turtle is a local establishment.

Servers are trained to ask customers if they’re a member of the company’s e-club, and guests are offered a free appetizer if they join. Customers who sign up receive texts promoting deals and events.

“We realize that building that database is important,” Barry said. “Now, we can send out deals for whatever is going on that day.”

The Mug Club allows bar customers to buy a mug with their name on it for $40. Then, the customer gets special discounts, beer tastings and invitations to other events. It gives customers a sense of community and ownership in The Greene Turtle, Barry said.

Riggs said the Mug Club was a smart strategy, noting that customers like to feel that they belong. 

“It’s about making it more of an experience — entertainment,” she said. “It’s about socializing at the bar. That’s all part of the experience, too.

“Not everybody is succeeding, but not everybody is failing, either,” Riggs said of the casual-dining segment. “There are definitely opportunities within the industry.”

Contact Erin Dostal at [email protected].
Follow her on Twitter: @erindostal.